


The Distance Between Us

by who_needs_a_witty_username



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: 2009 Era (Phandom), Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Dan Howell and Phil Lester Are Teenagers, Dan Howell/Phil Lester Comfort, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tag Suggestions Welcome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-13 04:56:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18025100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/who_needs_a_witty_username/pseuds/who_needs_a_witty_username
Summary: Dan Howell, known as 'danisnotonfire' on Youtube for his song covers, meets one of his fans online one day and develops a friendship.(As always, the summary is bad, but I hope the writing is better.)





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> So I found this fic in my Google Drive and decided to post it and see what y'all think. Enjoy!

“And the next song I am planning on covering is probably an Andy Black song, or maybe an MCR song. Probably ‘Famous Last Words’ or ‘Homecoming King’. Let me know down in the comments what you want to hear! Bye!”

Dan saved the edits he had made on his latest video and setting his laptop aside, wanting nothing more than to take a nap. He found the process of editing a video to be incredibly exhausting, and it was the part of being a YouTuber he hated the most, but it was one of the most crucial points of creating a video.

Dan turned on his favourite playlist, which was composed of various styles of music and artists, varying from Panic! At The Disco to Black Veil Brides.

Technically, it wasn’t the type of music that you would generally listen to if you had sleep in mind, but Dan found loud music comforting. 

Just as he was heading to his bedroom to lay down for a nap, he heard a ding come from his still open laptop.

‘What the hell is it now?’ he wondered, walking over to the couch where the laptop was sitting and grabbed it, taking it with him to his bedroom.

After he had gotten comfortable, he turned his focus on his laptop. He checked his notifications and saw that he had gotten a Facebook friend request.

Yes, Dan knew that Facebook was old, but it was still his main source of social media. So what if it was old fashioned, Dan liked it.

The friend request was from someone named Phil Lester. Dan clicked on the profile picture so he could view Phil’s account.

He seemed pretty normal, and they even had some similar interests. They had a similar taste in music, and both liked anime. Dan decided to accept the friend request, because, for fuck's sake, he could use some more friends with similar interests.

Not even five minutes after he had fallen asleep, Dan heard the telltale dinging of the notification bell.

‘What the hell is it now?’ Dan thought, getting up to check his phone, immediately regretting sitting up. He grabbed his phone and collapsed back onto his bed.

He looked at his phone and saw that he had a message. He pulled the message up and saw that it was from the guy that had sent him a friend request earlier.

 

Phil: Hey mate!

 

Intrigued, Dan decided to see where this conversation would go.

 

Dan: Hello?

Phil: I’m so sorry. It must be so weird to get a message from a stranger at three in the morning!

Dan: No, it’s fine. I was really bored anyways. 

Phil: Okay! Hey, why don’t we introduce ourselves!

Dan: Okay

Phil: I’ll start! Okay, My name is Phillip Lester, but just call me Phil. I’m 23, and I’m from the UK

Dan: My name is Daniel Howell, call me Dan though, Daniel’s too formal. I’m 19 and I’m also from the Uk

Phil: Really? Where?

Dan: Wokingham. You?

Phil:Rawtenstall 

Dan: Cool.

Dan: Hey, I have a question.

Phil: What is it?

Dan: Why did you send me a friend request in the first place?

Phil: Well, about that…

Dan: Yeah?

Phil: Well, I watch/listen to your videos on YouTube, then I saw you in my recommended friends, so I just had to send you a request, because I’m such a big fan. Sorry if this sounds really creepy. I can leave you alone if you want.

 

Dan smiled when he heard the reason. In all honesty, he knew that was probably the reason from the start, but he still really liked the little bit of Phil’s personality that he had had the pleasure to experience. He decided to be risky and play the flirty card. 

 

Dan: No no, it’s not creepy at all. If anything, I find it really sweet.

Phil: Really?!?!

Dan: Yeah ;)

Phil: 0///0

Dan: Haha. You’re so cute!

 

Dan paused. He hadn’t meant to say that. Well, might as well let the events unfold.

 

Phil: N-no I’m not! 0///0

Dan: Well, technically I don’t know if you are or not. Maybe you could send me a pic?

Phil: Sure!

Phil: *I'm Phil.jpg*

Phil: Your turn

 

Dan sighed. He knew this was coming. Ever since he’d asked for a picture of Phil. He had never released his picture or anything on YouTube, so obviously Phil was curious about what he looked like. Although Dan was right about one thing. Phil was absolutely adorable.

 

Dan: *Me.jpg*

Phil: Awww! You are so adorable!

Dan: No I’m not.

Phil: Yes you are. No arguing.

Dan: Fine….

Phil: Hah! I win!

 

***

 

Phil couldn’t believe it. He was actually talking to him. He was talking to the man, or well, young man, that he had spent months obsessing over. Wow, putting it like that made it sound creepy.

Dan was alot younger than Phil would have guessed, a whole four years younger than he was. Not that that deterred him though. Phil really liked Dan, and it turned out that they have alot of things in common. 

 

Dan: Yes, you win this time.

Phil: Are you insinuating that there will be a next time?

Dan: Well, only if you want to! I mean, I’d love it if we kept talking, but if you don’t want to, then I won’t pressure you or anything!

Phil: Woah, calm down. Of course I want to keep talking.

Dan: Okay. Good. While I’ve enjoyed talking to you, I kinda need to go to sleep.

Phil: Okay. Goodnight.

Dan: Goodnight.

 

So Dan lied. He didn’t really need to sleep. He just felt like he made a mistake. He knew that he tended to get a little flirty, and he was scared that he had scared Phil. 

If only he knew how wrong he was.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if teh spelling and/or grammar is bad, this is an un-edited chapter. I didn't want to edit it at the moment, but I will go back through and edit it. If you find any errors, please tell me so I can fix it. Thanks!
> 
>  
> 
> " " = Spoken words  
> ' ' = thoughts

Phil: Dan, are you there? I really need to talk to you.

 

As soon as Dan got the message, he was worried. He and Phil had been talking for a little over two months, and in that whole time, he hadn’t seemed as serious as he had in that message, as vague as it was.

 

Dan: What’s wrong Phil?

Phil: I really need to talk to someone, anyone, right now.

Dan: What happened?

Phil: One of my best friend’s parents just found him in his bedroom, dead. He committed suicide.

Dan: Oh Phil. What can I do to help you?

 

Dan wanted to help Phil so bad. He wanted to be there and hold teh older biy, comfort him, and tell him it would be okay. But he was so far away from the other boy, and it pained him.

Phil: Can you call me? Please?

Dan: Yeah. One second.

 

Dan had never heard Phil’s voice. They had only texted, and Dan was really curious as to what Phil’s voice sounded like.

 

***

 

Phil rubbed the tears from his eyes, silently willing himself to stop crying, even though he knew it was futile. He just wanted someone there to comfort him, but that wasn’t exactly possible, as the only person who would be willing to was currently almost 300 kilometres away. 

 

Incoming call from Dan Howell  
Accept Decline

 

Phil cleared his throat, then hit accept.

“Phil? Are you there?” he heard a voice say on the other end of the line. Dan’s voice was surprisingly deep, and Phil instantly loved it.

“Yeah, I’m here. Where else would I be?” he responded, trying to be witty, but failing, as his voice cracked halfway through the sentence.

“Jesus, I wish I could be there right now. I wish I could be there to comfort you.” Dan said, the sincereness in his voice making Phil start to tear up again. And this time, he couldn’t stop the sob that overcame him, tears pouring from his eyes, and sobs wracking his body.

“Phil is there anything I can do to help?” Dan asked, feeling helpless on the other end of the line. 

“I need someone here to comfort me, but that’s not really an option, but please, just stay and listen to me, even if we’re not saying anything, I just need to know that someone is there. Just stay”  
***

 

Dan was so tempted to buy tickets for the next train to Rawtenstall, even though he knew he didn’t have the money. Then an idea struck him.

“Phil, how would you feel if I caught the next train there?” Dan asked, his thoughts spinning, his hands shaking.

“Dan, do you even have the money to buy train tickets right now?” Phil asked, though Dan could here the hope in his voice. 

“Phil, I can buy the ticket, the question is do you want me to come?” Dan asked.

“Of fucking course I want you to be here.” Phil said, desperation spilling into his voice. “Please come. How soon can you be here?”

“About five or six hours. Don’t worry Phil. .” Dan said. “I’m coming.”

‘I’m coming Phil, don’t worry my sweet little prince.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments, kidos, and tag suggestions are welcome!
> 
> P.s. I am currently looking for a beta for this fic. If you are interested, then let me know in the comments!

**Author's Note:**

> So what do you guys think of my newest work? As always, comments, kudos, and tag suggestions are welcome! :)
> 
>  
> 
> Links to the songs/bands mentioned in this chapter:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex-ICeh8y9g (Famous Last Words)
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PVTzgkIh8k (Homecoming King)
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0EQlIzPowM&list=RDEMEqkdc-5MTmiglOzoXdd3TQ&start_radio=1 (Black Veil Brides Playlist)
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qFF2v8VsaA&list=RDEMb5yWCi-Hkg3SmOi6XQky1A&start_radio=1 (Panic! at the Disco Playlist)
> 
> Images Dan and Phil sent each other:
> 
> https://www.google.com/search?q=phil+lester+2009+cute&rlz=1CAHPZV_enUS810&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjUwff19fDgAhWl3YMKHWR-A2EQ_AUIDigB&biw=1242&bih=698&safe=active&ssui=on#imgrc=4zZWklLehzNhSM: (Phil)
> 
> https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1CAHPZV_enUS810&biw=1242&bih=698&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=Z4aBXLKwJZ7ljwSxsruYDQ&q=2009+cute+dan+howell&oq=2009+cute+dan+howell&gs_l=img.3...89793.101115..101335...0.0..0.122.1494.21j1......1....1..gws-wiz-img.......35i39j0i30j0i24j0j0i67j0i7i30j0i8i7i30.pXkHLTCTHAc&safe=active&ssui=on#imgrc=Iw8ZBzWO-c33SM: (Dan)


End file.
